Inteligentry and Manufacturers Gearing Up for Noble Gas Engine
Roll-out
In a 1.5-hour interview, John Rohner describes the latest
progress in their technology and in their business plans to bring the
technology to market, perhaps by September. Within three years, the 2
cylinder engine that produces 400 HP (300 kW) could cost as little as
$275.
Four test engines prepared for the
manufacturers' meeting.
(Click on image for enlargement.)
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Inteligentry Conference Room
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by
Sterling D. Allan
Pure Energy Systems News
After several attempts to mesh two busy schedules, I finally was able to
hook up with John Rohner, CEO of
Inteligentry, on Thursday to
interview
him about the latest developments in his "Plasmic Transition Process",
noble gas engine technology.
My overall impression after talking to him is that his company is
further along than I had thought. He's aiming to have the public
announcement of the first batch of mass-produced products (thousands)
ready for purchase by September or sooner.
Review
For those of you not familiar with this technology, it is an engine that
runs on what John calls a "plasmic transition" process using noble gases
to create the plasma, with a coil around the cylinder to control the
plasma, and a high voltage spark (actuator) to initiate the process. The
fuel is essentially free, both because so little is consumed over time,
and because the fuel is inexpensive. Also, because it has fewer moving
parts and its power density is greater, the engine itself is much less
expensive to build than the engine it would be replacing.
We're talking an engine-driven generator technology that would not
only be clean, but more affordable than energy that comes from the grid,
enabling off-grid, distributed, concentrated, and portable power
applications touching on nearly every energy need in today's society,
while also enabling applications that hitherto were not feasible, such
as buildings and communities that float in the air, and flying vehicles.
It also makes energy deployment possible where hitherto it has not been
available in the third world.
You can see why I've had them in our
Top 5 Exotic Free Energy Technologies listing.
I was going to attend his recent meetings down in Henderson, Nevada, in
which his manufacturing groups were getting together, followed by a
shareholders' meeting. But my recent move made that implausible. So I
was anxious to interview him to find out how that went.
The interview lasted an hour and a half, and touches on both the
technology and the business roll-out.
Manufacturers
Inteligentry has allocated five regional companies in the U.S., each
gearing up to be master (no limits) manufacturers of the engines. The
regions are Northwest, Southwest, Central, Northeast and Southeast. The
Northeast and Southeast are recent-comers, being in Atlanta and
Michigan, joining the existing manufacturers in East Texas, Salt Lake
City, and Seattle. The new pair are just starting the qualification
process.
The three motors that had been built from the 3D drawings used for the
3D printed parts, in preparation for the recent meeting in Henderson,
Nevada, were a hodgepodge, with each manufacturer building the same
subset of the parts. These were fitted into block and cylinder carrier
castings, machine by one. The manufacturers were then critiqued on what
they did right and wrong and any changes that were made to ease
manufacturing and reliability.
The three of these manufacturers (who are presently ready to proceed)
were give raw castings and two bottom ends. They are now tasked with
building two full engines, each. They will bring these to Las Vegas, NV
in 4 weeks, by May 1, to be fitted with electronics, operated, certified
in their manufacturing technique, and tested. Once accomplished they can
proceed into full manufacturing to start building up a stockpile for
when the OEM product makers require engines, used as training engines
and "ready stock" for when they and the company announce product
publicly in September. Each manufacturer will be expected to build at
least 10,000 engines a month once they are in production.
In gearing up, the manufacturers have had a challenge adjusting their
thinking from the internal combustion engine to the “Plasmic Transition
Process” engine. Though there are some similarities, the differences are
challenging to comprehend. I had a hard time understanding as John
attempted to describe the process to me. How could there be just a 1
atmosphere of static pressure in the chamber while it is putting out
hundreds of Foot Lbs of torque?
John said six physicists have worked together with him to come up with a
scientific explanation (within existing laws of physics)
of how the engine works. This explanation has now been submitted as a
recent patent application, which they will disclose at a later date,
probably when the engine goes public.
Inteligentry is looking to license foreign companies to become master
licensees as well. They feel that someone that lives and understands a
country, or region, could license in that area and will be more
successful getting engines out and used than Inteligentry would.
Licensee training will begin as early as May 15 or maybe June 1 based on
how much gets accomplished getting the US Master Engine builders
complete and started building engines.
To accommodate the rate at which they are growing, John said that in the
next couple of months they will be moving from their 1400 square feet
facility to a nearby 8000 square feet location.
They recently purchased a 3-D printer in order to build the proper pipe
sizes on which to wind the coils that go on their cylinders (and to play
around). The 3-D printers only cost $5000. "I remember back when we paid
that much for a regular copy machine," he said. It also will be able to
create the samples for the parts that will be injection molded plastics,
maybe the piston and other parts.
Working Prototypes
I asked John why (from my limited perspective) they are going into mass
production prior to doing alpha and beta testing of the devices to make
sure they will hold up in the marketplace. I referred to the recent
scenario we saw with the South African company who started out thinking
they could bypass alpha and beta testing, then finally decided to do
alpha testing, where they discovered that the deep-cycle batteries were
hammered after just 3-4 months of continuous running, making it
unsuitable to introduce to the market until that is addressed.
John is familiar with that situation, and he assured me, with his 40
years of product development experience, that Inteligentry has done
significant alpha and beta testing. "We know more about the engine that
is going into manufacturing than anyone needs to know." He said the
focus of the "last 7-8 months has been to get production engines,
reliable, economical, and easy to build."
Juxtapose this with a negative
report we published last year in which, according to our sources, it
appeared that John may have exaggerated the extent to which they had
done continuous-running testing, wondering if he had even achieved any
run time at all with even one of his engines. He said he let that report
go without significant challenge because it is their policy to not
disclose publicly the extent to which they have had running engines
until they are ready for public announcement of units ready for
purchase. "A lab experiment is not a product. Everyone knew it worked
from the lab experiment videos from 1982/3. No reason to reprove the
obvious." As much as that report put his company in a negative light; in
a way, he appreciated it because it quieted things down for them and
reduced expectations.
He made several statements in the course of our interview Thursday that
were indications that they have had operational systems, and have
collected extensive data from those. For example, he said they "have
driven [a] 500 kW [generator] at 1800 rpm, with no problem, on a two
cylinder engine." He later informed me that they have in stock two 18 kW
and two 28 kW generators that have also been used. And he said "An
earlier engine with a Pappish approach, worst case, runs 4 months or
better [without refuel]. The newer engines are so much more efficient
(patents pending); one has run past a year and 8 months; and it still
doesn't look like it needs a refill." The evolution of the engine has
created much better economy and stability (300 to 600% or more).
Engine Specs
Speaking of refills, John said that a manufacturer is working on
creating a canister the size of a paint gun: 4 inches long, and about
1.25 inches in diameter; to sell in a supermarket for $7 each.
It will hook up to a refill valve on the engine, and could last as long
as seven years under continuous running.
He
said: "The actuator controllers watch cylinder electronics for
degradation in 'event' signature; and when it drops, the actuator
controller tells the master controller to give a 'squirt'; to bring the
gas levels back up to normal."
At the beginning, Inteligentry is focusing on two engine sizes: a 2
cylinder and a 6 cylinder, the latter essentially being three of the 2
cylinder versions combined on 120 degree offsets. The 2-cylinder
allegedly has a limit of 275 horsepower or around 205
kilowatts equivalent generating capability. In practice a generator
would need to be attached to provide that, with some losses. To give you
a frame of reference, a house could be run with 10-25 kilowatts, which
could handle peak load, when "everything" is turned on during the busy
time of day.
The 6 cylinder engine is 1100 HP or around 820
kilowatts -- nearly a megawatt. That's about as much power as one of
those typical large wind turbines at optimal speed; from an engine 36
inches square and 12 inches tall -- the size of a kitchen table top.
John said that they found out recently that if the input/output shaft is
heat treated, then the 2 cylinder engine load limit could be as much as
400 HP, though they would probably cap it at 325 HP.
However, John explained that the "HP" rating is a bit misleading
because it is based on the internal combustion engine paradigm, where
you get a short explosion, near top dead center; whereas in the Plasmic
Transition Process engine, the push is extended over a longer duration;
so the overall, effective power is much greater, even though the
instantaneous "HP" rating might be lower than the actual power
available. John compares it to the steam engines that took our pioneers
West, which only produced 10 HP, but massive torque. That is when John
pointed out that the Inteligentry 2-Cylinder engine ran a 500 kW
generator at its rated 1800 rpm, which should have been impossible
according to its HP rating.
He said they are working with company whose main product is auto
dynamometers; and they are developing a special testing dyno for this
engine so they can come up with better numbers for the real output.
These would also be used by all manufacturers to verify end of line
operational characteristics.
Though the plasma pulse stage generates heat, the contraction phase
extracts heat at essentially an equal proportion, so the net effect is
that the engine runs just slightly elevated from room temperature.
The process is balanced thermodynamically.
One down-side to the engine as configured at present is that it is
designed for continuous output, not governed output.
However, John described a way that the engine could be made to respond
very accurately to changes in output requirement, following the load;
but at present it isn't configured this way. I would imagine that the
different OEMs would just tell the manufacturer what level they need an
engine to be set at. Future iterations are likely to be governable on
the fly.
One down-side to the engine as configured at present is that it is
designed for continuous output, Thus when you "let up on
the gas" it slowly runs down. Thus it is not yet a good match for
automobiles. Within a year, John expects that a solution for this will
be developed.
However, John described that the engine could be made to respond very
accurately to changes in output requirement, following the load; since
it has a 0.25-degree rotational accuracy as a native element. So the
engine can be controlled for a wide range of speeds. The master
controller is interlinked with a CAN bus that can interface with many
other elements as well. It also will hold whatever speed wished to
within .01% accuracy as load changes. It's very flexible and very
stable. It is governable on the fly.
John is not sure what the initial units will cost -- that will be
determined largely by the manufacturers. However, the company goal is to
get the 2 cylinder engine price down to $275 within three years.
That is inconceivably cheap considering the energy it puts out.
My usual disclaimer: As good as all of this sounds, if I were getting
directly involved in this venture, putting in substantial capital, I
would first require some kind of demonstration of the technology --
under NDA, would be fine. Or at least I would want to see the reports
made by others who had seen such a demonstration.
Inteligentry
Inteligentry presently has around 120 shareholders and is not
in debt. Nor are they looking for additional investment. The ability
to buy stock will end May 15 or June 1.
John, who turns 71 in a week, is not motivated by money, but by
presenting a real energy solution to the planet that customers will
appreciate. "Success is happiness."
He also plugged PES and encouraged people to chip in with donations, as
he has, to help keep our operation running.
# # #
This story is also published at
Examiner.
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Noble gas motor update - (PESN; Sept. 21, 2009)
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How the "Plasmic Transition Process" motor system works - (PESN;
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